All Things Travel: Logan Airport Holiday Traffic Soars

BOSTON (CBS) – Logan Airport’s passenger count is expected to reach 37 million by the end of the year, helped by strong Thanksgiving and Christmas traffic.

The only thing coming down at the airport are the toll booths at the entrance to the Ted Williams Tunnel and the Massachusetts Turnpike that will ease a major traffic problem leaving the airport.

The Thanksgiving travel period that ends on Monday, November 28, will see close to a million passengers arriving and departing in an 11-day period.

The Christmas rush will be over a two-week period starting December 21. Families travel more during that period because kids are out of school. The international terminal will be busier than ever with skiers heading off to Canada and Europe.

The year-end Logan numbers could top 38 million, which would be an 8 percent increase over 2015.

Eleven new international airlines started flights to Boston this year.

Massport, which operates the airport, advises passengers on domestic flights to arrive 2 hours early and 3 hours in advance of their international departures.

The TSA is adding staff and overtime for the holiday periods. Do not bring wrapped gifts, as they will have to be opened at the checkpoint.

The State Police and Massport employees will be at terminal curbs to keep traffic moving. Logan Express and Silver Line buses will bring you directly to your terminals.

Remember that winter is coming so keep an eye on long range weather forecasts and plan accordingly.

Airlines are cancelling their flights earlier. In the event of bad weather, your trip could be delayed by several days as planes are at more than 90-percent of capacity in peak periods.

Visitors to Massachusetts could be close to 30-million by the end of the year. Last year, the number was 28.2 million with 700,000 visitors from Canada.

These tourists spent more than $20 billion and helped to create 135,500 jobs.

According to AAA Northeast, travel over the Thanksgiving period will be the largest since 2007, due to relatively cheap gas and full employment in Massachusetts.